Sunday, August 19, 2012

this body

Lots of changes are afoot in the last few months, and I figured it would be good to keep track of them for posterity. So here's a round-up of what's already happened, and I'm sure there will be more changes as we go on. I'm almost 23 weeks right now, so there is a LOT of time and belly growth still to come!

The biggest and most recent development is that I can feel all kinds of movement. Kicks,
bumps, rolls, nudges, who knows what they're doing in there, but I can
feel them. Also, the movement is strong enough to be felt by other
people if they put their hand on my belly! Even more so, you can SEE IT.
My skin kind of jumps out when they budge up against there. So weird!!

I've always been a very fast walker and literally cannot move very slowly with slow/dawdling walkers. It makes walking around Manhattan frustrating, and I've learned to push and shove on the subway with the best of them. However, being pregnant slowed me WAY down. (And I might add that because I am considerate of others, I always tried to walk to the side so as not to block the way for faster people.) Especially in late April and May, when things were still new, I couldn't walk any faster than a slowpoke! Any faster and I would just feel icky. There were days on our trip in Europe that poor Mister M had to barely shuffle with me (but I'm glad that he did :D).

Thankfully, in the last month or two that has gotten better, and I'm much faster again, at least on flat ground (but not as fast as I used to be). Going up a flight of stairs, however, it's like I'm in slow motion! Just can't go any faster and I don't know why. And actually, I go pretty slow down stairs too.

On the treadmill, I used to walk at 4mph (which on those machines is the 'jog' setting), but now I can get up to 2.7mph and with a small incline too. On the elliptical, I used to warm up at level 5 and then gradually move up to 10 or 12. I went to the gym a few weeks ago, and had to warm up on 1, and then made my way up to 5! Not very impressive.

In the last few weeks though, I've gotten more tired and unwieldy, and decided to let go of the whole idea of working out. I've been getting a lot of little aches and pains, and twisting and folding/bending is more and more uncomfortable. So no more gym or pretending that I will go to the gym. I do have occasional walks though and those usually seem to be ok. My mom likes to remind me of all the pregnant women she sees in her classes working out and being superstars, and unfortunately that's just not going to be me. Technically this is a high-risk pregnancy, after all! Don't I have a good excuse to be lazier? :)

Speaking of lazy, sitting is what I do the most of lately. Getting up and down is more difficult though. I have to use my hands to push myself a little, and overall there's definitely more effort involved.

Sleeping has been a more uncomfortable for the last month plus. I'm a
side sleeper, and turn back and forth during the night. Well, as this
belly has grown, and presumably my abdominal muscles have completely
atrophied and spread out, I can no longer move myself quickly from the
core. I have to sort of turn (and often grunt) in bits and fits now.

It's hard to eat enough. A few weeks ago I got hit by some seriously powerful hunger--like an endless desperate gnawing of hunger. It's less desperate now, but the gnawing can come on very quickly. When we were out west, we went out for dinner with some friends. I was already starving, so when I heard there would be a 20-30 minute wait til we got seated...well, I knew that just wasn't an option for me. So I left Mister M there and I went to the McDonald's next door for a snack! Classy, right? But hey, gotta keep health in mind. And don't worry, I still ate a big dinner and dessert at the real restaurant!

Like I mentioned, bending/folding is uncomfortable. My belly isn't even that big yet, so I'm sure it will be impossible soon enough. Currently I have to put on shoes and socks sideways, which is weird. I guess I will need to shop for some slip-ons come fall! And I think I won't be able to shave my lower legs in awhile either.

A few months ago I bought two pairs of maternity pants, before I definitely needed them. Happily the weather has been good enough that I've been living in skirts and dresses for the last couple months and didn't need to bother anything at all with pants. I did decide to wear them on the plane back to NYC...and I was not a fan. The band thing was uncomfortable, and it felt like they kept slipping down, especially in the back. I had to keep hiking them up! I felt like I needed a belt or at least some belt loops to tug on and keep the pants in place!

I was happy to see that at least I looked pretty good in the jeans. My hips have grown two inches wider, but overall I'm not fatter or anything. I've gained at least 15 pounds I think, probably more by now. (I don't have a scale and only used to weigh myself at the gym. Since I haven't been there in about a month, now I have only the doctor visit weigh-in to go by.) But it's all in the belly and chest! And also my fingers, which are swollen and a little painful. I took off my rings for good last week.

Speaking of belly, sometimes I forget I have it. On the plane, I tried to scoot past a large man in the aisle, and bumped my tummy right against a seat. This week at a restaurant, I kept bumping against the table. Whoops!

I know that when one is pregnant enough, one's belly button flattens and then pops out like a turkey timer button thing. What I didn't realize was how the spreading works. My belly button seems a pretty deep innie, but as it's spreading out, that means there is basically new skin that's never been outside before, surrounding my belly button. It's noticeably whiter than the surrounding skin, and remarkably softer. It's essentially a small ring of newborn baby skin! It's all VERY weird! I've never heard or seen anyone talk about this or show this before, have you?

1 comment:

Pregnancy is the coolest, weirdest experience your body will have. Relating to your experience on the plane, I was teaching 2nd grade during my first pregnancy. While walking between the aisle of desks one day, I turned to hand a student something and hit him in the head with my belly! Approach it all with as much good attitude as you can find, 'cuz you know that not all of it is fun. But there's going to be TWO great prizes at the end!! Keep walking. It will help you get through L&D, then recovery. Best wishes to you and Mr M.